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Stephanie Ho
I have experience learning Japanese in a formal school setting as well as independently online so I'll share my experiences and resources.
Motivation
Learning Japanese or any new language really is a long term process, so the most important factor is self-motivation. What do you want to accomplish after all of this? Maybe you'd like to be able to read your favorite manga series or maybe you'd like to travel to Japan— anything that gets you going is key. I've already written about my personal motivations at What is it like to learn Japanese as an adult? which may be relatable. The point is that there are tons of great resources for learning Japanese online but these resources will be completely useless if you aren't motivated to use them.
Goals
Once you understand your motivation, it's good to define concrete goals. I can't say how long something will take you because it depends on how much time you're able to set aside, but it's a good idea to first start off with something simple and adjust accordingly.
Make sure to also design your goals to apply what you learn. Purely memorizing for the sake of memorizing does not feel as rewarding as actually using something you learn. Furthermore, memorization will come when you continuously use learned characters and concepts so it's not a big deal if you can't memorize everything off the bat.
Example: for a complete beginner you could start off with learning 15 hiragana characters in 1 week. Start off with something simple that you think is achievable and then adjust your next goal higher or lower based on how well you did the first time. While learning hiragana, find some vocabulary and reading material so you can identify the new characters you're learning.
Routine
Make these goals into a routine. Spending a small amount of time each day to learn a new concept and reiterate on old concepts will compound quickly. Once you get into routine, it's easier to sustain momentum or else you feel guilty for breaking it.
It's also useful to talk about your progress regularly with a friend. Think of it as implicit social pressure to help keep you in check.
Online Tools
Now finally to the online resources! Some of the tools have been mentioned in other answers but I'll highlight everything I personally found useful.
SRS Systems
This is really useful for more memory-heavy parts of the learning like kanji and vocabulary. The idea behind SRS is to continuously give you something new to learn while reiterating on anything you're weak in. If you're really good at A, the system should not ask about A for a while; and in contrast, if you're really weak at B, the system will re-expose you to B more frequently until you're more comfortable with it.
Anki is a flexible flashcard application with SRS and it's perhaps the most popular tool among Japanese self-learners. There are a bunch of different decks made by users that are readily available for you to download, but of course you are also free to make your own.
Another popular SRS system that focuses on kanji with a pretty good community is WaniKani but it's not free like Anki. I have some gripes about WaniKani but it's very powerful if you are consistent with using it.
Lang-8
The UI can be frustrating but the community is really supportive. It's a writing platform for people all around the world to learn languages. The idea is that you can write in the language you're learning so that fluent people can correct your vocabulary and grammar while you help other users in languages you're fluent in. Don't worry if you are a beginner. Users are still very helpful and the opportunity to apply new concepts on this platform is really useful.
Some choose to also exchange Skype to practice conversing over video chat.
Formal Grammar Studies/Guides
Reading Material
Reading material is such a huge factor in experiencing your progress. There are a wide variety of Japanese school books targeted for Japanese students for specific grade levels. These can be found in local Japanese book stores or from online stores.
The following are some additional online reading materials.
Also some recommended manga for Japanese beginners:
Dictionaries
Tatoeba
Database of example sentences.
See Questions On Quora
Continue reading...
I have experience learning Japanese in a formal school setting as well as independently online so I'll share my experiences and resources.
Motivation
Learning Japanese or any new language really is a long term process, so the most important factor is self-motivation. What do you want to accomplish after all of this? Maybe you'd like to be able to read your favorite manga series or maybe you'd like to travel to Japan— anything that gets you going is key. I've already written about my personal motivations at What is it like to learn Japanese as an adult? which may be relatable. The point is that there are tons of great resources for learning Japanese online but these resources will be completely useless if you aren't motivated to use them.
Goals
Once you understand your motivation, it's good to define concrete goals. I can't say how long something will take you because it depends on how much time you're able to set aside, but it's a good idea to first start off with something simple and adjust accordingly.
Make sure to also design your goals to apply what you learn. Purely memorizing for the sake of memorizing does not feel as rewarding as actually using something you learn. Furthermore, memorization will come when you continuously use learned characters and concepts so it's not a big deal if you can't memorize everything off the bat.
Example: for a complete beginner you could start off with learning 15 hiragana characters in 1 week. Start off with something simple that you think is achievable and then adjust your next goal higher or lower based on how well you did the first time. While learning hiragana, find some vocabulary and reading material so you can identify the new characters you're learning.
Routine
Make these goals into a routine. Spending a small amount of time each day to learn a new concept and reiterate on old concepts will compound quickly. Once you get into routine, it's easier to sustain momentum or else you feel guilty for breaking it.
It's also useful to talk about your progress regularly with a friend. Think of it as implicit social pressure to help keep you in check.
Online Tools
Now finally to the online resources! Some of the tools have been mentioned in other answers but I'll highlight everything I personally found useful.
SRS Systems
This is really useful for more memory-heavy parts of the learning like kanji and vocabulary. The idea behind SRS is to continuously give you something new to learn while reiterating on anything you're weak in. If you're really good at A, the system should not ask about A for a while; and in contrast, if you're really weak at B, the system will re-expose you to B more frequently until you're more comfortable with it.
Anki is a flexible flashcard application with SRS and it's perhaps the most popular tool among Japanese self-learners. There are a bunch of different decks made by users that are readily available for you to download, but of course you are also free to make your own.
Another popular SRS system that focuses on kanji with a pretty good community is WaniKani but it's not free like Anki. I have some gripes about WaniKani but it's very powerful if you are consistent with using it.
Lang-8
The UI can be frustrating but the community is really supportive. It's a writing platform for people all around the world to learn languages. The idea is that you can write in the language you're learning so that fluent people can correct your vocabulary and grammar while you help other users in languages you're fluent in. Don't worry if you are a beginner. Users are still very helpful and the opportunity to apply new concepts on this platform is really useful.
Some choose to also exchange Skype to practice conversing over video chat.
Formal Grammar Studies/Guides
- Genki (1st edition is available legally online: Genki, Genki II)
- Imabi
- Tae Kim's Guide
Reading Material
Reading material is such a huge factor in experiencing your progress. There are a wide variety of Japanese school books targeted for Japanese students for specific grade levels. These can be found in local Japanese book stores or from online stores.
The following are some additional online reading materials.
- NHK Easy (beginner)
- ChokoChoko: The Great Library (variety of difficulty)
- Erin's Challenge (beginner)
- Bauddha (variety of difficulty)
Also some recommended manga for Japanese beginners:
- Easy to read manga for Japanese beginners – Vol. 01
- Easy to read manga for Japanese beginners Vol 02
- Easy to read manga for Japanese beginners – Vol. 03
- Easy to read manga Vol.04 – A mixed bag
- Easy to read manga for Japanese beginners Vol. 05
Dictionaries
Tatoeba
Database of example sentences.
See Questions On Quora
Continue reading...
